Grains of Sand
by SailorDeathMoon
Summary: Joey and the gang are going on a trip to the beach, and Kaiba's coming along with them. What will happen when Joey starts to realize that maybe Kaiba doesn't just harbor feelings of hate towards him? Sorry I kinda suck at summaries. Yaoi, eventual puppyshipping. minor puzzleshipping, bronzeshipping and tendershipping. Rated T for mild language from several peoples mouths.
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest story! I actually meant to have this out by January 25****th**** (Joey's birthday) but I couldn't. Sorry! So instead I'm dedicating it to my friend tanteichan. Look her up!**

**Lightning: Yes, sorry for the delay but she is Brooke.**

**Me: You shut it. Anyways without further ado, onto the story!**

**Lightning: She doesn't own YuGiOh or its characters, just this fanfic.**

0

It was 8 in the morning and it was a beautiful day outside. The sky was a vibrant blue with tiny wisps of clouds floating through it. It was hot, almost 85 degrees, and the weather forecast had only predicted it would get hotter, and that's why a group of eight teens were found sitting around the house making plans for a day at the beach.

Yugi, Yami, Marik, Malik, Bakura, Ryou, Tristan and I were all sitting on the floor of Yugi's living room, arguing about who to bring along on the trip. "I'd like to bring Duke along."

"But Tristan, that pretty boy's got it out for me." I heard Yugi sigh next to me. I couldn't blame him either. Tristan and I had been fighting for over ten minutes about weather or not we should invite Duke along, and while it's not anywhere near our longest fight ever, it was still a long time to put up with two people fighting.

"But Joey, Duke doesn't go out enough anymore because he's always working. He's so stressed lately and it upsets me to see him so tired. This'll be a good chance for him to relax and take a break." Tristan looked upset and I knew I should probably drop it and let Duke come along, but I couldn't just give up without a fight, it would ruin my tough guy image.

"Yeah, well Kaiba works all the time and you don't see me inviting him along, do ya?" I felt Yugi shift beside me and give a sort of small squeak. I looked over at him and saw that he had a really nervous look on his face. "What is it Yug? What's wrong?" He looked down at the floor and said something I couldn't understand. "Whad'ya say? I couldn't understand you."

"Well I sorta, kinda invited Seto and Mokuba along with us." He WHAT?

"YOU WHAT?!" I jumped up and glared down at him. "Why on god's green friggin earth would you do that? You know he hates us, hates ME, with a passion. He's worse to me than Duke, and that's sayin somethin. So why, the hell, would you invite him along?"

"W..well, I was making breakfast earlier and Mokuba called and asked if I wanted to come and try out this new video game they'd made. I told him we were already making plans to go to the beach and he sounded so disappointed that I just had to invite him along. Then he asked if Seto could come and I just couldn't say no to him Joey."

Yugi looked like he was about to cry, and Yami was giving me a look fit to rival Kaiba's glare so, with the most dramatic sigh I could muster, I flopped back down onto the floor. "Fine. Whatever. He can come, but I'm sure as hell not riding in the same car as him. And I'm not sitting next to Duke either."

Yugi let out a relieved sigh and Tristan looked like a little kid on Christmas. I couldn't help but smile. How could I not, when my friends were as easily pleased as tiny children. That thought made me laugh. Yugi and Tristan laughed too, though I doubt they knew why. Even Ryou and Malik joined in. Yami, Bakura and Marik just kinda sat there looking at each other, not knowing what to do. It just made the rest of us laugh harder, until Yami joined in, then Bakura and finally Marik, until all of us were on the floor laughing. I thought to myself maybe, just maybe, this trip won't be so bad after all.

0

"Oh. Hell. No! I told you guys earlier, I'm not riding in the same car as him, let alone HIS car." I was fuming, no sorry, pissed was more like it. Kaiba and Mokuba had shown up shortly after we had all finished laughing and my mood had instantly turned sour. It wasn't the fact that Kaiba was there; it was the look of indifference that went along with his undermining tone.

The first thing he said to me was "Well mutt, looks like you haven't changed" God he was infuriating.

"Neither have you, rich boy." It's at this point that we started fighting. I mean seriously come on, we all saw it coming. However the fight didn't last long because Yami stepped in between us and gave me a very, very, stern look, then nodded in Yugi's direction. Apparently he hadn't heard us yet, and from the looks of things he wanted to keep it that way.

I glared one last time at Kaiba before I went to help load up the cars. Turns out we had a lot more stuff to take with us then I thought. By the time we were done loading up, both Kaiba's and Yugi's trunks were stuffed full.

Yugi placed a closed sign in the window of the shop and then locked up, because his grandpa was away visiting as old friend in Egypt. Now the only thing left to do was decide who was riding with who.

Yami and Yugi automatically got the same car since they both owned it and were *ahem* lovebirds. Marik and Malik were riding Malik's motorcycle, so Ryou and Bakura called the backseats of Yugi's car.

I wasn't too worried about who I was riding with. I figured I would just ride with Tristan in his car, maybe crank up some tunes and talk about hot babes. Well, I would talk about hot babes. Tristan would probably think about Duke the whole ride over, but you know, that wouldn't be so bad I guess. All in all the trip was starting to look like it would be okay, even with Kaiba there.

That is, until Tristan informed me he would be riding with Duke and leaving his car at the shop. This all but deflated my happy mood. With Tristan going with Duke, and the other car full, that left only one option. Kaiba's car. Which of course leads us back to the current situation.

"I told you Yugi. I refuse to ride in the same car as that egotistical jerk!"

"Oh, that's a big word for you mutt. Someone's been doing there homework." Kaiba smirked a little as my face started to go red.

"Just you wait, rich boy. One of these days I'm gonna hit you so hard your grandchildren will feel it."

"Empty threats, Wheeler. You've really lost your touch."

I was about to yell something about my touch being perfectly intact, when I glanced over at Yugi. He looked like he was about to cry again. I sighed and looked away. The things I do for my friends. "Whatever Kaiba. Let's just go. I wanna get this over with."

I started walking towards his car, well limo actually. I guess my response must have surprised him because I was almost to the limo before he responded with "Whatever you say, mutt." I couldn't tell because he was behind me, but it sounded like he was smirking. He caught up to me with ease and opened the limo door, gesturing me inside with mock politeness.

"After you, mutt. Oh, and try not to get your dirty paws all over my seats." That smirk again. God he irritated me.

0

So here we are, in the backseat of Kaibas' limo, driving towards the beach, when all of a sudden the limo takes a sudden left. I look out the window and see a bunch of houses, all of them huge, looking like mini mansions. Apparently I looked confused because Mokuba suddenly chimed in.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that we have a little errand to run. We're going to pick up my friend Noah. I invited him along with us because he's never been to the beach before." He turned his attention to Kaiba, a playful look in his eyes. "Just like big brother. He's never been to the beach either."

I guess the shock showed on my face because Kaiba stopped typing long enough to glare at me. "Kaiba you've never been to the beach?"

"No. Unlike you and your little geek squad, I don't have time to be prancing around in the sand like a child. I run a multi-billion dollar company. CEO's like me don't play in the sand like pre-schoolers."

I knew he wasn't happy about coming along, but that didn't mean he had to be a jackass about it. Still, I almost felt sorry for him. I mean, never doing anything fun, that had to be rough on him. However Kaiba seemed to have other ideas when he spotted the almost pitying look on my face. "Oh don't feel bad for me, mutt. Running my company has far more benefits than going to some over-crowded beach.

Yep. Almost felt sorry for him I shot him another glare and turned to look out the window again. The houses were bigger now, with more space in between. The limo started slowing down and suddenly Mokuba pointed out the window at a three-story house. "That's it. That's where Noah lives!" He was practically bouncing in his seat as we pulled up the drive-way.

I smiled to myself as he jumped out the door before the limo even stopped. I swear he got to that front door faster than an Olympic sprinter could dash the hundred meter. Unfortunately now that Mokuba wasn't in the car, the atmosphere felt more…pressing. I was so focused on the whole it's-weird-to-be-alone-in-the-car-with-Kaiba thing that I didn't notice that said person had stopped writing until I finally realized the sound of typing was missing.

I looked up to see what had actually proved interesting, or annoying, enough to distract the ever vain Kaiba from his work. Of course, that's when I caught him staring at me. Those ice blue orbs were traveling the length of my body, holding some unknown emotion inside.

His gaze traveled back up to my eyes and noticed me looking at him. I blushed and looked away. O.K-. this was weird. I never blushed. EVER. And if I did, it sure as hell wouldn't be around Kaiba. So why the hell was his stare making me blush.

Fortunately, I was saved from further speculation by the return of Mokuba and his friend Noah. Noah was about the same height as Mokuba, with a figure that could only be described as petite. He had cyan colored hair and bright blue eyes. But something seemed a little off about him. His skin was pale, and when his hand accidentally brushed mine getting into the limo, it felt cold, ice cold.

However he seemed so happy to be with Mokuba that I just kinda forgot about it in favor of silently laughing as Mokuba launched into a thousand words a minute talk about a new video game that had come out just yesterday. Noah smiled and laughed right along with him the whole time.

It was almost like Kaiba and I didn't exist. I indiscreetly glanced over at him to see how he was taking all of this, and was shocked to see a small smile playing on lips. Kaiba, smiling. Geez, this car ride just got weirder and weirder. I swear I was encountering more weird things around Kaiba then I ever did with Yugi and the gang.

I turned my thoughts back to Mokuba when I heard him mention my name. "Oh yeah. Noah this is Joey. He's a friend of mine." I smiled and held out my hand to Noah. He took it and smiled back. "Hello Joey. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet ya too." I had to say. That was probably the most civil conversation I'd had for the past hour. And I had to admit, the boy had manners. Better then someone's at least *cough cough*

My attention strayed back to the world outside the window as Mokuba launched into another topic, and was surprised to see that we were already back on the highway. Had I really spent that much time thinking? God, I'd better be more careful or I'd turn into another Ryou. Not that being a thinker was bad; it just wasn't my thing. I was the tough guy, the one who fought the bullies with force. I was the one who would jump into a fight to help a stranger, even if I wasn't asked to, or got no thanks afterwards. I wasn't smart like Duke or Yami, wasn't innocent and compassionate like Yugi and Ryou, or even Malik. I wasn't a criminal mastermind like Bakura and Marik (ok that was a little exaggerated), and I was most certainly nowhere near as rich as Kaiba.

Speaking of which…. I snuck a quick peek at the teen CEO again, just to see what the endless flow of chatter was doing to him, but of course I picked the one moment when he was staring at me to look, and this time the emotion in his eyes was intensified.

Great. Just Fan-fucking-tastic. Kaiba was staring at me with an odd look. That could only mean one thing. Something bad was going to go down, and like normal when it involved Kaiba, I would be at the center of it.

I sighed and moved my eyes back out the window. This was going to be the longest car ride of my life.

0

**Me: So ta-dah. My beautiful first ever totally centered on puppyshipping story. I'm actually quite pleased with the way this came out. What'd you think Lightning? ….. Lightning?**

**Lightning: Thank you Jesus! I thought I was gonna die.**

**Me: Oh come on, it wasn't that bad. For all of those who don't know, Lightning isn't a huge fan of the whole typing process. He says it takes too long and he get's anxious and twitchy and wants to get out but I make him sit there like a good Yami until I'm done typing.**

**Lightning: *raiding the fridge* Yes, it gets very boring very quickly. Hey! Thin mints!**

**Me: Oh uh-uh. Get your goddamn hands off my thin mints bitch!**

***Lightning takes the box and runs***

**Me: Well Ima go reclaim my thin mints and beat some sense into my Yami. R&R and all that crap. Until next time, this is SDM-**

**Lightning: *mouth full of cookies* and Lightning signing off!**

**Me: Bye! *turns towards Lightning* Get back here with ma cookies!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: So ummmm…..yeah….I've been inactive again.**

**Lightning: Don't blame yourself. Blame the system.**

**Me: Lol. Anyways.. Oh yeah. I'd like to thank Violet Eclipse, dancing elf, kitameguire, and Blithe the perock. Oh and no. Noah is not a vampire. I'll explain about him later.**

**Lightning: It's actually kinda interesting. **

**Me: Yes. So without further ado, I present chapter two….hey that rhymed.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill people.**

**0**

Oh yeah. Remember when I said that hour would last forever? Yeah, understatement of the century. God, it was….torture. Now don't get me wrong. It wasn't like I was physically hurt or anything, but knowing that Kaiba was staring at me, for whatever reason, with that strange look in his eyes, well, it was extremely awkward.

Yeah, really, really, uncomfortable. But that unfortunately, was the situation I was in. I mean, it wasn't all bad. Mokuba ended up dragging me into a conversation about Duel Monsters. That was an entertaining five minutes. You know, until Noah fell asleep leaning against Mokuba. It'd be an understatement to say that boy shut up in an instant. Seriously it's like before Noah even hit his shoulder he was already dead quite.

I thought it was kinda cute. Then I looked at Kaiba and saw his reaction. Totally the complete opposite of what I thought it'd be. His eyes were full of warmth. Warmth! I think my brain shut down for a minute on that one. Oh and then the best part happened. Those ice blue irises swung back my way. And they were still warm and tender. My breath got stuck in my throat and my heart might'va started beating faster.

Oh. Hell. No. I diverted my attention back to the window. Not cool not cool, not cool, not cool. Seriously, what the hell was up with this car ride? Since when has Kaiba been able to affect me like this? WHY the hell can Kaiba affect me like this?!

I mentally slapped myself. Why do I care? It's only Kaiba. He's never mattered before, and he shouldn't matter now.

**0**

The rest of the car ride was normal enough I guess. I fell asleep shortly after Noah did and didn't wake up till we were at the beach and Mokuba started cheering. "Come on Noah! Let's go! Wake up Joey, we're here!" He was out the door before he finished the sentence, dragging Noah with him. I took a minute to follow, still a little groggy after my nap. I stretched outside the car and kinda just stood around, taking in the scenery.

It'd been a while since the last time I'd been to the beach. The last time I'd been here was with Serenity, and that was more than three years ago. In truth, it was the reason I didn't come here anymore. I couldn't really take the memories associated with the place. Visiting the beach with Serenity was the last thing we did together. Her mom, well I should say our mom, doesn't really like me. She said I'm too much like my dad and made it her mission to see that I wasn't around Serenity enough to "corrupt her".

"You gonna follow Mokuba or are you just going to stand there looking like a lost mutt?" Ahh Kaiba. He knew how to pull you out of unpleasant memories and back into the equally crappy present. "Screw off Kaiba."

"Those insults get weaker every time Wheeler." "Whatever." I started walking towards the spot where Mokuba and Noah were setting up the beach towels. Kaiba lagged behind me, looking disdainfully around at the scenery. Guess he didn't like the view of thousands of people in swimsuit, some of which were very revealing, making out on top of beach blankets.

I stifled a laugh. Poor Kaiba, out among the common folk, observing their unkaibaly ways. Did I really just say kaibaly? I need to upgrade my vocabulary. Even for me that was a stupid word.

Kaiba quickly caught uo to me and started to walk at my pace, and for some reason this made me really uncomfortable. So I did the natural thing anyone in my position would do. I took off running towards the ocean, scooping up Mokuba, who'd worn his swim trunks to the beach, and rushed right into the waves.

When the first wave hit, I let go of Mokuba and let it carry me back to shore. I stood up laughing, completely soaked and blinking salt water out of my eyes as I watched Mokuba swim back to shore and run to Noah.

Noah was sitting on one of the beach towels, smiling at Mokuba as he came running up to him. He slowly got up, took off his t-shirt and started to race Mokuba back down to the waves. They looked so young, running around in their duel monster swim trunks and splashing each other with water. I laughed and walked back towards the beach towels, taking in the sights around me.

It's true this place held a lot of bad memories, but it held a lot og goods ones too. Like all the times I came here with Serenity and the gang. Or the time I got my first kiss from a girl. Wait scratch that, that memory came out bad in the end.

I shook my head to clear the bad memories and plopped down on the beach towel. Like Mokuba, I'd worm my swim trunks instead of shorts, so there wasn't any problem there. However, my shirt and jacket were completely soaked through, and somehow I knew they wouldn't be dry by nightfall, even if I left them to dry in the sun.

I sighed, I hadn't even thought to bring a spare set of clothes. Typical planning on my part. I stripped of my shirt and coat in the end anyway and set them off to the side of the towel. Hoping they'd at least be somewhat dry by the end of the day. I leaned back, my hands under my head and waited for the rest of the gang to show up. Unfortunately, I'd be waiting for a while before I saw them again. A very, very long while.

**0**

I must've dosed off for a while because the next thing I knew my phone was ringing. Fallout Boy was playing, letting me know it was Yugi calling even before I answered. "What's up Yug? Where are you guys?"

"Well we're….probably not gonna be there for a while, Joey."

"What? Why?" I heard Yugi sigh.

"We're caught up in traffic on the main highway. There's an accident up ahead and it looks like it could be a while before they get this sorted out." He sounded tired and unhappy. I felt bad for him, stuck in traffic on such a hot day while the beach called to him.

"It's okay Yug, don't worry bout it. As long as you guys are okay that's all that matters. What about Marik and Malik? Did they get through?"

"No. Their right next to us actually. They tried to get through earlier but the roads so packed they got like ten feet before they couldn't move anymore. We could hear them swearing as if they were right next to us." I could believe it too. With Marik, Bakura and even Yami at times, swearing came naturally.

"Joey did you hear me?"

"Huh, sorry Yug. I was zoning out."

"Heh. I figured as much. I said we should meet up somewhere when we actually get there."

"Sounds like a plan. Where'd you have in mind?"

"I was actually we should just meet up at a hotel somewhere and book a couple rooms. You know, like at the Holiday Inn."

"What!? But I thought we were gonna camp out on the beach?"

"We were, until I checked the trunk and realized that Bakura only packed one tent."

"Damn. Okay, well how many rooms do you think we'll need?"

"Umm… well probably four I think. Yami, Bakura, Ryou and I can share a room. Duke and Tristan will want their own. You, Marik and Malik can share a room and Kaiba and Mokuba can have their own room."

"And Noah"

"Who's Noah?"

"A friend of Mokuba's. He invited him along and we picked him up on our way over."

"Oh. Ok then. Well why don't you get four rooms and I'll pay you back when I get there."

"Nah, don't worry bout it Yug. We'll call it even for all those lunches you bought me in school."

"But Joey-"

"Seriously, it's cool Yug."

"Well…..ok, but are you gonna have enough?"

"Yeah. I gotta couple hundred hidden in my sneakers in the back of Kaiba's car."

"Ok. Oh crap. I gotta go. Marik just got in a fight with the guy in front of him. See you when we get there. Bye."

"Bye." I hung up and sighed. Great. I get to spend a night in the same room as Marik and Malik. This day just kept throwing oddballs at me.

I got up and brushed off some stray sand, then I went to get the boys. "Guys change of plans. We're sleeping in a hotel tonight. Come on we have to go get a couple rooms. Where's your brother Mokuba?"

"Right behind you mutt. What's this about hotel rooms?"

Damn that mans quite. "Well idiot Bakura only packed one tent so now we have to go book hotel rooms or the night."

"Phht. Figures one of the geek squad losers would fail to come through. Now the thing that interests me is how you think your going to pay for these rooms."

"Shut up moneybags. Contrary to what you think, I actually have a job. I'm not completely broke you know."

"Whatever you say, mutt." I sighed. We didn't have time for this if we wanted decent rooms.

"Whatever. Will ya please just help me pick up the beach towels?"

"Was that a request for help? That's rich coming from you Wheeler." I growled. God he got under my skin. I grabbed the beach towels as Mokuba and Noah raced up to me and grabbed their clothes and shoes.

We walked back to the limo and shoved the towels back into the trunk, Kaiba following behind us, a smirk on his face. I looked back at him and his smirk got bigger.

"Like what you see mutt?" Oh yeah. Time for another fun car ride with the prince of ice. God help us all.

**0**

**Me: So there you have it. Chapter two is finally done. I have many ideas for how to play off the next chapter.**

**Lightning: Yes and none of them are the greatest.**

**Me: Shhh don't spoil the surprise. Oh and just so everybody knows, I'm looking for a beta to read through these things because I have to type them up really fast and don't normally have time to look over them.**

**Lightning: Yes. So please do us all a favor and become her beta today.**

**Me: Anyways. Arigato for reading. R&R. See you next time.**


End file.
